Out of Time
by AllonsyBatch
Summary: The Doctor and River experience a TARDIS malfunction, landing them in what appears to be present-day London. When a young girl shows up, the mystery of her identity leads even River to the desire for spoilers...
1. Chapter 1

_I. Didn't. Even. Know. Rhinos. Could. Run. _

Even her thoughts were out of breath as she rounded the corner at Leicester Square and darted into the throng of people coming and going, bright blue backpack thudding against her back with each step. The Judoon officer came around seconds later, seemingly invisible to the hundreds of tourists in the area.

_Must have a perception filter active_, she thought as she made her way through the crowd, bumping into several shoppers, eliciting multiple dirty looks and the odd rude comment. The Judoon carefully weaved this way and that through the onlookers, clearly trying to not draw attention to himself and thereby rendering his disguise useless. He was briefly held up by a woman pushing a pram, but continued on her trail shortly thereafter.

"Sorry! Coming through! Pardon me! MOVE!" she screamed, finally breaking to the other side of the massive group. Turning onto Charing Cross Road, an idea began seeding in the back of her mind.

_This is mental. I'll never make it._ She allowed herself to stop for a moment, attempting to catch her breath, calculating the distances, but as if appointment, her pursuer reappeared and the chase continued.

Emerging into Trafalgar Square minutes later, she didn't catch sight of the traffic cones and caution tape until it was too late. Taking a wild leap off the edge of the monument, she felt herself propelled through the air-graceful, flowing-until she promptly landed on a spare bit of scaffolding and fell rather ungracefully on her behind.

"BOLLOCKS!" she murmured, righting herself and continuing her run. _I've gotta make it to the Thames._

The Judoon soldier watched the blue backpack of his prize bob up and down as he made his way around the giant stone monuments, figuring out her plan and cutting down a side street to cut off her progress. Emerging at the bank directly across from the London Eye, he breathlessly looked around the shoreline, and caught sight once more of the blue backpack and the wisp of a blond ponytail disappearing around a ferry. Clearly she thought it clever to disappear onto one of the river vessels, but he would soon prove her wrong. Drawing his laser from its sheath on his hip, he crashed aboard the ferry just as it was pulling away from the shore. Jogging further up the deck, he spotted the blue pack on a bench, the girl nowhere in sight.

Looking around quickly, his eyes grazed across the shoreline. There, on the bank, waving smugly stood the girl, leaning against a tree, without her bag. She gave a crooked grin as she watched the Judoon touch his wrist and disappear. Laughing to herself, still cherishing the surprised look on his face, she took a few steps to her right, not paying attention to the large object she then ran headlong into-slamming her face into the surface with enough force to knock her out. Falling backwards onto the ground, she had a precious few seconds of consciousness left to process what it was she had run into before falling into blackness. Rising above her was a large, blue box. The doors had just opened as she closed her eyes.

The Doctor jutted his head outside the door and looked around, utterly bewildered. His eyes circled the park once, finally landing on the unconscious girl on the ground beneath him. She was young, probably in her late teens or early twenties, with dyed blond hair and fair skin. She wore a tattered zip-up sweatshirt with blue jeans and (the Doctor had to smile a bit) faded Converse trainers. Around her neck hung a circular pendant, which the Doctor had barely begun to study when the door behind him opened wider, River stepping out and observing the surroundings.

"Doctor, one of your alarms is going off and it seems to-who is that?" she asked, pushing his arm aside to get a better look.

"Not sure. We should…um…" he looked around, clearly confused as to the turn of events, toying with idea of leaving her there. Just as he decided that that was indeed what he was going to do, a bright laser hit the top of the TARDIS, directly above River's head. Both their heads snapped up just in time to see the Judoon officer barreling toward the TARDIS on all cylinders, weapon raised.

"You can't leave her here," said River, looking at the Doctor with that _you have to save her_ look he just couldn't say no to.

"…right!" he yelled, bending down to place his arms behind the girl's head and knees, picking her up like a child being carried off to bed. As he carried her into the TARDIS, River ran ahead, pulling several levers allowing the TARDIS to take flight. A blaring alarm rang throughout the console room as the Doctor gently placed the girl on the row of seats next to the console and ran his hands through his floppy hair, uncertain as to how to proceed.

The Doctor lightly jogged to a small screen hidden from view on a panel near the back of the console room. His eyes widened in horror as the number "2" flashed upon the screen in front of him.

"No…that's not possible…" he said, not noticing River approaching behind him.

"What's not possible? What is that read-out?" she asked, her hands snaking around the Doctor's waist in a playful fashion.

"Nothing!" yelped the Doctor, quickly changing demeanor, pretending to ignore the screen but deftly hiding it from River's view. "Flouro-geneous meta-phenomenon! Nothing to worry about!"

A scuffling noise caused both their heads to turn to the sight of the girl rising from the ground, her eyes wide in shock as she looked around the room.

"It's…" she began, dumbfounded.

The Doctor turned to River, his eyes suddenly that of an excited child, practically dancing on the spot. "Oh, please, I love this part," he said, pleading.

River rolled her eyes and swept his hair from his face, a smile creeping into the corners of her mouth. "Oh, go on then. But go easy on her. You know how grating you can be on the recently concussed."

"It's…" the girl continued, still gaping about the room.

The Doctor smiled in earnest and ran to the edge of the console deck, his hands gripping the lapels of his tweed jacket, standing proudly waiting for his favourite line.

"It's…a TARDIS."

The Doctor's smile immediately vanished from his face as he chanced a quick look back at River, who also appeared to be flummoxed. "That's…unexpected."


	2. Chapter 2

"How do you-" began River, her mouth hanging open, staring at the girl in shock.

"That makes you the Doctor, then?" the girl turned and looked at him, her expression becoming more comfortable as a huge grin spread across her face.

"That's…also unexpected," said the Doctor, his eyes narrowing as he studied the girl, a heavy silence falling between them. River shifted, clearing her throat as the two continued to stare at each other. The girl was the first to break the stare, turning to face River.

"Who are you?" asked River, her mouth in a straight line.

"River Song…" said the girl, seemingly star-struck.

The Doctor's hearts did a strange little jig before he realized the girl was addressing River by name, not identifying herself as River.

"No, that's her name…I wanted yours. And while we're on the subject, how did you-"

"You must be traveling. I suppose you don't know where you are right now?" The girl broke away from the Doctor's gaze and ran to the console, laughing and looking up at the Data Core. "From the looks of it-" she fiddled with a couple knobs and levers. "The TARDIS experienced a temporal flux, disintegrated the liberal moderation device and re-routed the spatial differentiation capacitor. "

Looking behind her, she was greeted with the open-mouthed faces of both the Doctor and River, which caused her to give a quick giggle before clarifying. She rolled her eyes and continued sarcastically, "It made a loud popping noise and sat down in the middle of nowhere on its own?"

River then snapped out of it, while the Doctor remained dumb-struck. "'Bout the height of it, yeah," said River, suspiciously keeping her distance from the girl.

"Thought so," she responded, running her fingers through her fly-away hair. Pulling a pair of glasses out of her pocket, the girl proceeded to practically dance around the console, pulling levers, twisting knobs, and pressing buttons. She pulled a large screen around to face the Doctor and River, gesturing to it proudly. "Yep! See here? You didn't actually take off just now-we're still in the same place-TARDIS activated a perception filter, so the Judoon shouldn't be an issue, but it doesn't look like she wants you to go anywhere anytime soon."

She flew back around to the other side of the console, pressing another button and examining the screens before her when the alarm, which had been present in the background for the duration of their conversation, suddenly became louder and more pronounced. River walked toward the now vibrating read-out.

"What is-"

"NO!" Both the girl and the Doctor screamed at River, lunging in front of her to stand side-by-side in front of the screen, blocking her view. Their heads whipped around to stare at each other, a silent recognition shadowing both of their faces.

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked, all traces of playful curiosity now gone from his face.

"Ras," said the girl, backing away from the Doctor slightly, not taking her eyes from his.

"Well, _Ras_," said the Doctor, emphasizing what he assumed to be a fake name, "how is it that you seem well-acquainted with the Judoon?"

"Can't tell you that."

River took a step forward to stand next to the Doctor, the two of them now backing Ras against the screen on the wall.

"And how do you know about the TARDIS?" she asked, backing Ras another step against the wall.

"Can't tell you that either."

The Doctor grabbed the front of Ras' sweatshirt in a very uncharacteristic gesture, pulling her aside, out of River's earshot. He whispered now, so only Ras could hear.

"And how is it that you know what that screen means? Because you know what it means, don't you?"

She looked at him seriously, swallowing and nodding solemnly. "Yes. I know what it means."

There was a brief pause as the Doctor considered this. "And?"

"It's true."

The Doctor loosened his grip on the front of her shirt, glancing down at the floor. Finally, he let his grip fall as he stepped over to the railing surrounding the console and leaned against it, eyes closed.

"Would someone care to fill me in? Or can you not tell me that either?" River asked, hands on her hips, still near the flashing "2" on the screen.

"You're right, I can't," said Ras. "But I can show you," the corners of her mouth perked up in an impish grin as she brought her hand up against a lever, causing the TARDIS to shudder and take off. Over the loud VROOP VROOP of the emergency brakes, the Doctor sighed and held on, not taking his eyes off the mysterious girl now piloting his TARDIS.


	3. Chapter 3

Bright sunlight poured through the open doors of the TARDIS as the Doctor peered out at where they had set down. Before he had a chance to open his mouth Ras poked her head beneath his arm, squinting up into the sky.

"Right. Here we are!" she said cheerfully as she stepped out of the TARDIS and began walking down what appeared to be a residential street.

"And where exactly is 'here?'" asked the Doctor, ushering River out of the TARDIS and locking the door behind her.

"Now, now-spoilers!" said Ras, turning to face them with one eyebrow raised, a sly grin on her face. "Just trust me."

"Why should we? You were being chased by that Judoon for a reason. How did we make it past him, by the way?" River looked at the Doctor for an answer.

"Mobile perception filter," answered both the Doctor and Ras, in unison again. This time, Ras appeared slightly embarrassed and quickly turned to lead the way down the street again.

"Come on now! Keep up!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"Ok, that's it," yelled River in frustration, "we surely aren't following some strange girl we've only just met into an undisclosed location when she seems to know all about us but has given no information?"

Ras stopped and turned to face them. "Strange? Speak for yourself…" she continued to mumble under her breath, the word 'hair' being somewhat discernible. She stayed a safe distance away as the Doctor addressed River privately.

"She knows something vital. Vital to my…to our…future. But you're going to have to trust me until I understand what exactly is going on."

The Doctor reached out and held River's wrists in what he attempted to make a comforting move. When she continued to eye him suspiciously, he dropped her wrists and turned to face Ras again.

"Would you two relax? We're here!" Ras raised her hands to indicate a seemingly normal house at the corner of the street, a set of stairs leading to the front door. "I was out scouting the other day when I got the same read-out you did, and it led me here," she said, opening the door.

As they entered the home, it became immediately obvious that the neatness of the outside did not continue into the inside. Strewn all about the floor were random objects-some normal-children's toys, tools, bits and pieces-but also objects that appeared to be somewhat…alien. The Doctor bent down to collect one of the seemingly alien artifacts and began to tinker with it, focusing all his attention on the trinket.

"Oi! I'm back!" yelled Ras up the stairs, then turning and addressing the two, even though the Doctor had his head down, fiddling. "I'm a sort of…agent…for the Shadow Proclamation. When I got the reading "2" I rushed here immediately."

"What _was_ that reading?" asked River, ignoring her husband who was now idly disassembling the object in his hands.

Ras stiffened, then, seeming to make a decision, looked directly at the Doctor. "Time Lord Detection technology. According to the TARDIS, there are two Time Lords in the area."

The Doctor raised his head to look at River meaningfully, her face taking on a surprised look of understanding for his concern earlier.

"But, who?" she asked, turning her head back and forth between the Doctor and Ras.

At that moment footsteps could be heard descending the stairs. Three sets of eyes settled on another pair of Converse trainers, this time attached to a pair of long, skinny legs in a brown pinstripe suit. As his face appeared below the banister, River and the Doctor's eyes nearly bugged out of their heads as the Doctor, the former Doctor, looked at each of them questioningly, bringing his hands up to remove the black-rimmed glasses from his face. His eyes passed over the Doctor and Ras, settling on River, then back to the Doctor.

"WHAT?" said the Tenth Doctor, his brow furrowed and eyes dramatic.

"Who, indeed," said Ras, shaking her head and smiling, "this is going to be fun."


	4. Chapter 4

There were several more minutes of uncomfortable silence, peppered with only a few "What?'s" from the Tenth Doctor before River finally looked at Ras with a frustrated expression.

"I think it's time you did some explaining, young lady," said River.

"Oh, if you only knew," said Ras, a knowing smile spreading across her face. "I told you, I'm a scout for the Shadow Proclamation. I was doing some research in the Cardiff area around The Rift when I got the alert that there were two Time Lords in the vicinity. I used my vortex manipulator to travel to London where the origins of the signal were being picked up, but the signal became scattered. While wandering around, I ran into the Doctor here," at this she gestured at the Tenth Doctor, "and figured, well…you know, may as well stay a couple days, have some food…"

"But this is dangerous. I can't cross over my own time-line. Do you even realize what could happen?" asked the Eleventh, face now close to Ras.

"Oh! You're not crossing your own time-line!"

The Eleventh looked at her with a confused expression, tilting his head and raising his eyebrows to indicate his former self standing right behind her.

"For someone who seems to know everything about me you sure didn't get your history right," he pointed at the other Doctor on the stairs. "That's me. Different face," he then pointed at his own face.

Ras turned around to look at the other Doctor and smiled.

"You really haven't figured it out yet? That's not you!"

The Doctor stared at her again, confusion now seeming to be his default expression. Ras put her hands on his shoulders, offering moral support as she placed her face directly in front of his, whispering softly, "That's Biological Meta-Crisis You. We're in Pete's World."

The Doctor's eyes widened as he released himself from Ras' grip and took a step back, nearly knocking River over.

"But…that's not possible."

"I know-but somehow The Rift pulled your TARDIS in, and you're here, so-"

"Wait," the Tenth Doctor spoke up now, coming the rest of the way down the stairs to stand with the trio in front of the door. "You keep mentioning The Rift. There is no Rift in this universe."

Ras' smile faded to a more concerned expression as she looked away from the two Doctors.

"That's what I was here to investigate. Someone has altered The Rift in this universe."

"But that could mean-" began the Eleventh.

"The two universes could be combined," said River, shock and realization hitting her.

"But they would both be-"

"Destroyed, yes," finished Ras, glad they had all reached the same conclusion.

"But, who?" asked River, leaning against the wall behind her for support.

"My guess," began Ras, stuffing her hands in her pockets, "someone hell-bent on destroying the Doctor."

Both versions turned to look at each other, then her in unison.

"I know. It's not like that narrows it down much."

"Well," said the Eleventh, the attempt of a playful smile not quite making it all the way to his eyes, "we're just going to have to figure this out! TARDIS!"

"Wait," said the Tenth, putting his arm out to stop him, "I can't go with you."

"Why not?" said River and the Eleventh together.

"I…have a life here. I can't just leave it."

The expression on the Eleventh Doctor's face would have been the same if he had just watched his former self transform into a badger.

"There is a potentially universe-destroying alteration taking place at The Rift and you don't think we should go investigate it?" he asked, squaring up to his former self.

"No, I think you should. But I have more important things here."

"What could possibly be more important than the entire universe?!"

At that moment, the front door opened. In walked Rose Tyler, long blond hair pulled up in a bun, a small child wrapped in a fluffy coat in her arms.

"I'm…home," she stopped when she looked around at the small crowd huddled in her house. "what's going on?"

"That-" said the Tenth Doctor, "is what is more important than the entire universe."

XXX

Ras sat on the countertop in the kitchen, head in her hands, glowering at how painfully domestic the conversation had become. The two Doctors and their respective companions sat around the dining table, each with a mug of tea. No one spoke at the moment, so Ras took it upon herself to release another bored groan.

"What's her name?" tried Eleven, his tone uncertain as to whether it was his business or not.

"Donna-Jane," replied Rose, unable to take her eyes off him, completely dumbstruck that her Doctor had changed faces again.

Eleven smiled with the news of his counter-part's child being named after two of the women who allowed her existence.

"We call her DJ," said Ten, as the table reverted back to uncomfortable silence.

"Doctor," said River, causing both men to look up at once, "oh-we're going to have to work this out…Ten and Eleven maybe?"

Ras huffed again and threw herself off the counter, retreating to the front room where DJ played quietly on the floor in front of the piano. She sat herself down on the bench and began a soft, lilting tune that grew to a hauntingly beautiful melody. She hardly noticed as Eleven perched himself on the bench beside her, allowing her to finish the piece as he watched DJ on the carpet.

"Lovely piece," he said, not turning to look at her.

"Mozart. He was a prat," she said, still looking down at the keys.

Eleven looked up at her then, a curious expression taking over. "Always was."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before she began playing again. This time the melody seemed lonely and sad, which Eleven took upon himself as an opening for answers.

"Who are you? Really?"

"I told you my name," she said, fingers gliding across the keys swiftly.

"Your real name," he asked, his hands coming down on top of hers to discontinue her playing.

"You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine," she said, a sad smile and tired features poking through her normally excited pallor.

"Understood. You know me," he began, removing his hands and placing them on his lap, "you know me from my future."

"Yes," her hands came up to clutch the pendant around her neck in a seemingly nervous gesture, "I guess you can say we keep meeting in the wrong order. You should know how that goes," she said, finally looking at him with a genuine smile now.

Eleven sighed and patted his knees, "All too well, yes. I take it we're better off if I don't know how you know me?"

Ras just smiled and turned back to face the piano, beginning a happier piece now for four hands. She looked expectantly at the Doctor and was surprised when two different hands appeared as Ten sat on her other side.

"She talked you into it, didn't she," said Ras grinning, addressing Ten in a teasing manner.

He sighed, but smiled a weary smile. "Of course she did."

"What are you going to do with DJ?"

"Take her to Jackie's for a few days. I shudder to think what sort of habits she'll come back with…"

Eleven chuckled and moved himself to the floor to pick up a toy that had caught his attention and began to play with DJ, completely fascinated with her doe-brown eyes and shock of dark, messy hair at the top of her head.

"Hello, little one," he said quietly so as not to be overheard by Ras and Ten at the piano, "I'm going to take your Mum and Dad on a little trip…but no worries! I'll have them back in no time."

DJ cooed and looked up at him, giggling and drooling a little on her shirt.

"Of course, I know what I'm doing. I'm the Doctor. Well…one of them."


	5. Chapter 5

All elements of awkwardness immediately dispelled the moment the five travelers stepped foot into the TARDIS. Each had a level of familiarity, though no one was quite certain what that level was for Ras.

Ten looked the console room up and down with a disapproving look. "You've redecorated. I don't like it."

Eleven looked hurt for a moment before bringing his hand down to stroke the center console lightly and offer mumbled words of encouragement.

"So how are we supposed to get anywhere if the TARDIS isn't letting us take off?" asked River, examining the screen before her and fingering the levers before it.

"I think we can still move about in this dimension, but it would be impossible to make it back to ours," said Eleven, glancing at Ten for his agreeing nod. Each took a place around the console, River by Eleven, Rose by Ten, and Ras in between the two Doctors. She glanced back and forth between the two of them, noticing the playful smiles that had erupted onto each of their faces.

"Go on, say it, you know you want to," she said, sighing and looking up to the ceiling.

The two Doctors smiled at each other, simultaneously flipped two levers and shouted.

"Allons-y!"

"Geronimo!"

XXX

The moment the doors of the TARDIS opened, the Eleven knew he was in a different dimension. The plaza in front of the Millennium Center was completely unchanged, unlike the one in his universe that had been completely destroyed in an explosion the previous year. As each of the five travelers exited, their heads instinctively went up to the sky, as if some sort of explanation would be written in the clouds.

The last out of the door was Ten, holding some sort of mechanical gizmo that was making quite a racket and attracting the attention of several tourists.

"Hey, there-Space MacGyver-think you could try being a little-normal-er?" Ras hissed under her breath, giving fake smiles to the tourists as they passed.

"This doesn't make any sense," said Ten, not responding to the unwanted attention they were receiving, "there's some sort of interference in the void. I'm not able to see anything."

"Did you try reversing the polarity of the neutron flow?" asked Eleven.

"What about temporarily disabling the anti-navigation system?" added Ras.

"Or inhibiting the directional vortex of the ion chasm?" River provided.

"Did you try turning it off and then back on again," asked Rose, arms crossed in front of her. Ras, River, and the two Doctors turned to look at her, sympathetically frustrated looks on each of their faces.

"Well, I did NOT miss this part," said Rose under her breath as she began to walk away from the foursome who continued to pick and prod at the device in Ten's hands. As she casually approached the metallic fountain at the center of the plaza, she noticed an odd shimmering coming from the base of the tower. Looking back over her shoulder, she considered asking one of her companions, but decided against it when she heard them arguing over something where the term "spacey-wacey" was undeniably used.

Placing her hand near the base of the stones, she began to feel a distinct temperature change, as if someone had waved an icy fan near her body. Reaching out, she felt what appeared to be an invisible wall directly below the monument, and as she reached out she felt it shift beneath her touch.

As if flipping a switch, the sky suddenly illuminated a dazzling white, causing the group to shield their eyes as they turned their heads once again to the skies. Like a page out of the Doctors' worst nightmare, the sky was suddenly filled with the ships of hundreds of different enemies, each with dozens of cables hoisting between them one large, cube-shaped object. Though Ten and Rose looked on with uncertainty, River, Eleven, and Ras knew without a shadow of a doubt what was dangling directly above their heads: The Pandorica.


	6. Chapter 6

Ras was the first to break her gaze from the skies. Looking around the plaza, she realized that the five of them were the only people moving, as if all the other citizens had been frozen in time. She wordlessly tapped Ten on the shoulder, indicating the unmoving people.

"Spatial-temporal freeze," he said, eyes wide in horror. Even though he didn't recognize The Pandorica, he certainly recognized the ships of the Sontarens, Cybermen, and of course…

"DOCTOR!" The voice echoed throughout the plaza as if from some sort of invisible PA system.

"Oh, shi-" Ras began, cut off by the familiar robotic voice.

"DOCTOR. BOARD THE SPECTRAL MANIPULATOR OR YOU AND YOUR COMPANIONS WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

"No," began Rose, bringing her hands to her mouth, "no-we destroyed them all. They're all gone." Her eyes began to glisten as she reached out, Ten instinctively finding her hand and squeezing.

"They're never gone," said Eleven, looking at the ground. His tired expression did not escape River's notice.

A bright beam of light appeared to their left. Sharing one last desperate look, the five stepped into the light and disappeared from the plaza.

XXX

The group found themselves in a long corridor, facing the Doctors' oldest and strongest foe. Before them stood three Daleks, each with eyestalks trained directly at them.

"COME THIS WAY, DOCTOR, OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

"Geez, get a new line, already," said Ras, trying to ignore her nagging desire to scream.

"THE FEMALES ARE UNNECESSARY. TAKE THEM AWAY TO BE EXTERMINATED!"

"Excuse me," huffed River, taking a step forward, "but I happen to be-"

"Completely unnecessary, correct," said Ras, stepping up to stand alongside River, giving her a quick wink. "We'll just head right along and get exterminated like good little prisoners."

With that, Ras grabbed hold of both River and Rose's wrists and began to follow one of the Daleks down a perpendicular corridor, leaving the two Doctors standing alone, utterly flabbergasted.

XXX

Several minutes later, the girls found themselves snaking down a series of hallways leading to what had to be a central location within the ship. River finally turned to Ras and whispered, "You had better have a plan."

"Uh…definitely," said Ras, rooting around in her pockets.

"You don't, do you?" said Rose despondently.

"Not a clue, just kind of making it up as I go. Remind you of anyone?" she gave Rose and River a devilish smile as she produced a small package from her pocket. "Ah, here we are."

"What? Did you bring some sort of weapon or Dalek-malfunctioning-device?" whispered Rose, not taking her eyes off the back of the leading Dalek.

"Not exactly," said Ras, extricating a piece of chewing gum from the package and popping it in her mouth. She stopped walking and began chewing furiously.

River and Rose gave each other a desperate glance before stopping too, causing the Dalek to turn and shout.

"FOLLOW ME FOR IMMEDIATE EXTERMINATION!"

"River, am I correct that you are familiar with most Royal Air Force jargon?" Ras asked, removing the sticky wad of chewing gum from her mouth with her fingers. River stared at her with a slightly appalled expression and gave an infinitesimal nod.

"Right then. VATICAN CAMEOS!" Ras shoved the piece of gum onto the eyestalk of the Dalek, impeding its vision and immediately dropped to the floor. River, following suit, pulled Rose to the floor as well just as the Dalek began firing in every direction wildly. Ras began a slow army-crawl to the adjacent hallway, followed River and Rose. The moment they were around the corner and out of the line of fire she jumped to her feet and began running full tilt down the corridor.

Five minutes later she stopped outside the door, panting, River and Rose right behind.

"Nor that," panted Rose, "definitely did not miss the running."

"Love the running," smiled Ras, peering through the window of the door before them.

"What exactly are we going to do now?" asked River, beginning to trust this girl a bit more after her bold move with the chewing gum.

"We're goin' fishin,'" said Ras in a fake Southern drawl as she opened the door, causing Rose to gasp in shock.

Before them was a massive room, centered around what appeared to be a floating island full of levers, knobs, and buttons-not unlike the TARDIS. Above and below for at least a hundred feet each direction stood columns upon columns of flashing lights and monitors.

"I give you the Dalek communication center," said Ras, gesturing up to the enormous room.

As River and Rose gawked up at the gigantic room, Ras set to work on one of the central computer panels.

"What are you doing?" asked River, breaking out of her reverie.

"They're trying to put him back in the Pandorica. They must have got the same reading as I did about the two Time Lords-that would explain why they came here-" she stopped briefly as she pulled a wire, causing a small shower of sparks. "If I can disrupt their communications systems between the different species, they won't be able to organize their little welcoming committee that I'm sure they have planned."

"It won't stop the Daleks, though?" asked Rose, hopefully.

"No," said River, a smile creeping to her face as she joined Ras at the computer, "but it will certainly piss them off."

Ras started to smile with River but stopped short. "They must be using a signal booster, but I can't-" She stepped away from the monitor, approaching the railing and looking down the shaft of instruments. "There!" she shouted, pointing to a flashing light directly below the work table. "If I could just-" hooking her foot to the railings she lowered herself down until she was hanging precipitously from the ledge, nothing but space below her.

"Excellent," said River, typing furiously on the computer before her, "as long as we have no undue interruptions, we should be able to dis-"

"Why would you say something like that?" screamed Rose, slamming the door to the room shut just before a flash of green light illuminated the window above. She flung herself to the center island just as two Daleks entered the room, rolling deftly up the ramp towards them.

"What is it? What's happening?" shouted Ras from below the console, grease smeared on her face and blood rushing to her cheeks from hanging upside-down.

"Nothing, we'll cover you!" shouted Rose, pulling River out of the way of a stray laser, just missing her poof of hair. River dodged out of the way of another laser just in time as she ran as far from the center of the room as possible, trying to buy Ras more time to disable the comms system.

"Hey there, you overgrown pepper pot! Over here!" yelled Rose from the other side of the room, also trying to draw the Daleks away from Ras. The two Daleks moved as one, advancing on Rose. She backed herself against the railing, having nowhere else to go.

"I got it!" screamed Ras, pulling herself upright, but still balanced on the railing precariously.

"Oh, sweeties!" yelled River, as the Daleks turned to face her. With one swift kick, River was able to send one of the Daleks careening into the other, forcing them both to topple over the edge. Before falling, one of the Daleks sent one final beam towards the center of the room, just missing Ras, but causing her to overcorrect. River saw her begin to fall as if in slow motion.

At that moment Rose dove over the railing, both she and Ras tumbling out of view into the abyss below.

River couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. Her hands came up to cover her mouth as she realized what had just happened. Closing her eyes, she felt a single tear fall down her cheek.

"Um, a little help?"

River's eyes snapped open as she ran to the railing where she had just watched her companions fall to their deaths. Hanging from the edge of the signal booster was Rose, her hands wrapped around the hood of Ras' sweatshirt, both swaying gently from side to side.

"Kinda can't breathe. Not that I'm complaining," said Ras as River slowly began to help them up and back over the railing.

XXX

Elsewhere on the ship, the two Doctors had just stepped in front of what appeared to be a small council of his oldest enemies.

"We want the Time Lords. They shall be locked in the Pandorica for all of eternity. This time, there will be no escape," said one of the Sontarens, his large potato-like head held high.

"Well, you've got us. Although to be fair, haven't we sort of played this game before?" sassed Eleven, smiling despite his emotions. "I mean come on, it only took me a broom and a fez to beat you the last time-this time there's two of me! What sort of a chance do you have now?"

"He's got a point you know," began Ten, taking a few sauntering steps while speaking, "you haven't a chance in the world what with this sort of technology," he placed his glasses on his face and began observing what he supposed was the device for entrance to The Pandorica. "Look here now-you've got a marginal distemperate shielding device holding this in place. Well…you tried to anyway."

"Come on now, I expected so much more from you lot!" boasted Eleven, "It's almost as if you haven't learned a thing from our last encounter."

"Yes. I mean, I wasn't there and all, but I can only assume you made some silly mistake…say…leaving a very important tool in someone's pocket that could ultimately destroy your entire system…but of course you wouldn't make that mistake a second time…would you?"

There was a flash of green and blue as Eleven and Ten both freed their sonic screwdrivers and pointed them at the entrance system. A shower of sparks erupted as the Sontaren stood and screamed.

"No! How did this human get a sonic device? And where is the other Time Lord?"

"What are you talking about? We're right here!" shouted Eleven, pocketing his sonic and walking over to Ten. "I see you've been busy making yourself a new one. Good thing, one definitely wouldn't have done the trick."

"This spiky-headed fool is no Time Lord. He is a half-blooded fake."

"Look, buddy! There are no other Time Lords here so you'd better just-"

"He's talking about me," said a voice from the back of the room. Ten and Eleven turned as one and peered through the smoke of the damaged Pandorica system to see the spectral image of Ras appearing in the doorway, flanked by River and Rose, a Dalek laser contained in each of their hands.

Ras raised her laser and pointed it directly at the Sontaren. "You wanted your second Time Lord? Here I am."


	7. Chapter 7

It was Eleven that broke the silence with a chuckle. "Right, right. Very nice. Now seriously," he said, turning back to the council, "we're the Doctor, we're who you're looking for."

"No. They're right. He's not a Time Lord. He's a human-hybrid biological meta-crisis. They're looking for the real deal. That's me," Ras put down her weapon and reached beneath her shirt to pull out the pendant she had been wearing around her neck. Everyone in the room fought the brief urge to look away before she ripped it from her neck, an odd shimmering coating the air surrounding her. In front of their eyes Ras had changed. Her hair, no longer blond, but a light red, was tightly curled close to her head. Her chin had become slightly bigger, and her eyes…

"Mobile perception filter," she said, tossing up and down in her hand, "nifty little thing."

"But you look just like…" Rose began, eyes wide.

"I never told you my name," she continued, turning to face River.

"But, Ras…" River started, still staring into those eyes she knew so well…

"Ras isn't my name. It's my initials. R-A-S. My Mum named me after the two bravest women she knew. My name is Rose Amelia. Rose Amelia Song," she turned now to face Eleven, "hey…Dad."

Ras looked from person to person in the room, beginning to feel awkward with all the attention focused on her. "So…how about that? Sontarens! Haven't seen you lot in a while! How's Strax?"

"Time Lord…" spat the lead Sontaren, raising his weapon to aim it at Ras. She immediately removed a small pen-shaped object and pointed it at the gun, a red light emitting from its end as the gun suddenly popped and fell from the Sontaren's hand.

"Now, now…these two handsome fellas aren't the only ones with a sonic screwdriver," she turned back to Eleven, who was still standing in the same spot, gaping at her. "Look, I know this is against the rules…wibbly-wobbly and all that…but, you give this to me for my thirteenth birthday, and I was just wondering if maybe you could come up with a different setting before you gave it to me?" She looked back at River, who was also rooted to the ground. "No? Worth a shot, now…I can see we're getting nowhere, so I'll guess I'll have to take care of this another way," She approached Eleven and reached out her hands to grasp either side of his face gently. "Sorry about this, Pops," she said as she headbutted him with incredible force.

A plethora of memories came flooding into the Doctor's mind, and it took him a brief moment before he realized the memories were not his own. River with an incredibly swollen belly. A chubby toddler waddling across the floor of the TARDIS. The Doctor, an immense smile on his face, picking up the child and whirling her around the console room. A child of about ten, pushing on of the levers on the TARDIS and turning to look up at him with his own eyes. Ras' eyes.

"There," said Ras, holding her hand to her head, regretting the fact that she hit in the same spot where she had run into the TARDIS that morning, "now you know I'm not lying."

Eleven looked up at her, disbelief swelling into a thousand emotions at once.

"You're not going to cry, are you? I can't do crying…" Ras looked at him uncertainly.

Eleven shook his head and looked at River, then back to Ras. "Aren't you going to show her?"

Ras turned to River and narrowed her eyes, "You want to tell him or should I?"

River's expression visibly softened as she brought her hands to her stomach. "I was going to tell you this morning, but we got…somewhat distracted," she smiled as he approached her. The spell seemed to be broken as Rose moved to stand next to Ten, a knowing smile already on his face as he wound his arm around Rose.

Eleven cautiously reached out a hand and River caught it and led it directly to her belly. His eyes shone as he shook his head in disbelief. "When?" was the only word he was able to get out.

She smiled at him mischievously, causing him to nod and smile as well.

"Picnic at Asgard," they both said in unison, chuckling to themselves.

"Um, ew. I'm standing right here," said Ras, crinkling her nose in disgust.

"I do so hate to interrupt such a touching moment," said the Sontaren, "but we were in the middle of trying to destroy you both."

Eleven and Ras turned to face the Sontaren, both their hands reaching up to brush through their hair identically.

"Any ideas?" asked Eleven.

"Six, so far," responded Ras, turning to him and smiling. "Oi, you two still with us?" she turned and addressed Rose and Ten, who quickly broke apart and began surreptitiously wiping their eyes.

"Wow, bright in here," said Ten, shuffling.

"Right, smoke in my eyes," said Rose, sniffing and straightening herself before approaching the group.

"What's the plan, Sweetie?" said River, brushing her finger across Ras' cheek.

"I can destroy the Pandorica remotely, but it's going to take a lot more energy than three sonic screwdrivers," Ras stepped forward and began removing her sweatshirt, throwing it to the ground.

"But it's impossible to produce that kind of energy. The only way you'd ever be able to do that would be to-" started Eleven.

"No," spat Ten, "absolutely not."

"You can't," said Eleven, pleading.

"I have to. I can do this," said Ras bending forward to pick up her discarded Dalek laser.

Eleven let out a shaky breath. For a moment, she thought he would stop her, but instead he nodded and said, "I know you can. I just don't want you to."

"Don't want to what? What is she going to do?" yelped River, stepping forward.

"A Time Lord is able to expel one intense blast of energy strong enough to destroy the Pandorica, but," Ten couldn't continue.

"What? What's wrong?" River looked back and forth at the two Doctors, not understanding.

"She's going to regenerate," said Rose, stepping forward to clasp River's hand.

"Over my dead body," said River, intent on stopping her. She was held fast when Ten and Eleven turned, each holding one of her shoulders.

"Over mine, actually," said Ras, her hands beginning to glow with an orange, ethereal light. It happened in an instant-a ray of light burst forth from Ras' hands as she immediately directed it at the entrance column of the Pandorica. The room filled with an unearthly white light as a massive explosion rang from the center of the room. Rose and River fell to the floor, covered by Ten and Eleven as debris fell atop them. When they rose from the floor, the room was empty-no entrance module, no council, no anything…only Ras-standing, wobbling atop the center ledge, giving one last smile before she fell to the floor.


	8. Chapter 8

Rose, River, and the Doctors rushed forward to surround Ras on the floor.

"Oh, that sucked," she said, writing a bit, her face contorted in pain.

"Where is everybody, and why didn't she regenerate?" gasped Rose, looking around.

"The regeneration energy essentially reset the area-they were never here," said Ten.

"Then how are we still in the ship?"

"I suppose she was able to channel the energy enough to keep the environment going, but soon it will falter too, we've got to get out of here," said Ten, looking around for an exit.

"Yep, don't mind me, just dying here," said Ras, her voice slightly weaker.

"Doctor, why hasn't it started yet?" asked River, placing her hands on Ras' cheeks, trying to give her any form of comfort.

"It has, look-" as he answered he gestured toward Ras' hands, which had again begun to glow with the orangish light. He reached out and clasped one of her hands, entwining his fingers with hers.

"Is this going to hurt?" she asked, for once her sarcastic demeanor breaking down. Just this once, she was a scared child looking to her father for guidance.

"Not even a little bit," choked Eleven, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Liar," she smiled.

Ten approached from the other side and took her other hand. "We'll be here the whole time."

Ras gave a strangled smile. "Here goes nothing," she said.

"We love you," sobbed River.

"Hush, Mum," said Ras, winking up at River, "I'm concentrating on a dress size."

"GET BACK!" shouted Ten, just as Ras burst into light.

The four got out of the way just in time, shielding their eyes from the blinding light that issued forth from all of Ras' limbs. River collapsed into Eleven's chest, sobbing, as he held her-trying to focus on the light.

The light stopped, and the motionless girl before them perked up immediately.

"But-" said Rose.

"How-" said River.

"What?" said Ten and Eleven simultaneously.

"Oh, come on, couldn't I have at least gotten a little taller?" said Ras, standing up, looking completely identical to her previous form.

"You look the same," said River, aghast.

"Of course I look the same," grinned Ras, "what did you think would happen? Although the last time I got this weird birthmark," she said, pulling her shirt to the side, trying to see her own back.

"LAST TIME?" screamed all four of them together.

"Did I not mention that?" said Ras cautiously, wringing her hands in front of her with a shrug.

Instead of having to explain, the walls of the room began to shake violently, prompting them all to stop looking at Ras and cluster together.

"Right, we need to get out of here. Now," said Ras, pulling up her sleeve and revealing a vortex manipulator.

"A vortex manipulator can't transport five people at once!" yelled Ten.

"You're forgetting who my father is-I've been fiddling with vortex manipulators since before I could drive a TARDIS." She reached out to indicate they should hold on, touched a button, and they immediately disappeared.

XXX

Back at the Tyler Estate, Ras sat upon a picnic table, nibbling on a Jammie Dodger, watching Ten push DJ on a swing, Rose watching and laughing from the slide.

"Do I ever build you a swing-set?" asked Eleven, sitting on the table beside her, helping himself to a Jammie Dodger.

"Please," she began, "I grew up in the TARDIS-I didn't need a swing set."

"So-the Time Lord Detection technology-it wasn't picking up him," he tilted his head toward Ten, who was now attempting to sonic the swing to continue pushing on its own, "it was picking up you."

"Yeah. I knew that. But I wasn't lying about being a scout for the Shadow Proclamation, and I knew if you were in this dimension there was bound to be trouble."

"Shadow Proclamation, huh? Some first job. Shouldn't you be frying chips or bagging groceries somewhere?" He smiled and nudged her, eliciting a small smile.

"Why didn't you tell me right away who you were?" he asked, noticing the preoccupied look on her face.

"I didn't know how to tell you-" she began.

"Well, I suppose you could have just-"

"I didn't know how to tell you that when I'm born, you have a different face." She looked up at him, then-silent.

He faltered for a second, taking in what she said.

"I knew it was you because of Mum, but I didn't recognize your face," she looked back down, studying her trainers.

"I've known for a while now that my time is coming to an end. It's been fun. But I know that whatever comes next will be even better. You'll be there. Just tell me one thing-"

She looked up at him, knowing that she shouldn't reveal any secrets of his future.

"Am I a good Dad?"

"The best."

XXX

"Are you sure you won't come with us?" asked River, standing in the door of the TARDIS, her arms wrapped protectively around her own stomach.

"Well, technically, I am coming with you," said Ras, her usual mischievous grin spread across her face.

River and Eleven both rolled their eyes.

"And you know you can always stay here," said Ten, nodding towards the front door of the house where Rose stood holding a sleepy DJ.

"Nah, you're going to have enough on your plate, what with Number 2 on the way and all…"

Ten's eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he turned and ran for the door, all the while yelping "WHAT?!"

"Well, this seems to be an epidemic," said Eleven, reaching out to touch River's belly.

"You Time Lords and your spawn…" said River with a chuckle.

"Gross, Mum," said Ras, disgusted. "Anyway, I've got a little place I call home. I've been living with somebody there."

Eleven immediately stiffened and sniffed. "Oh, really? And would I approve of this…scoundrel?"

"Almost certainly not," smiled Ras, "but he's going to be around for a while, so you're just going to have to deal with it."

Ras walked a suitable distance away and took out her vortex manipulator. "Until next time-Mum-Dad."

"And when will that be?" asked River, her eyes glistening.

"Spoilers…" said Ras, as she disappeared.

XXX

Ras appeared just outside her door.

"Home, sweet home," she said as she opened the door, flinging her vortex manipulator to the table the way most people would their keys. She made for the kitchen. She was just opening up the cabinets to see if they had any Jammie Dodgers when a pair of arms snuck around her waist, pulling her into a hug, a scruffy face nuzzling into the side of her neck.

"I missed you."

"I bet you did," she said, smiling at the hug.

"Some mail came for you while you were gone. Information about changing your name."

"I told you, I'm not going to change my name. It's like putting a target on my back, for gosh sakes."

"I don't know, I think it has a definite ring to it," he smiled, pulling her in for a soft kiss.

"Fine. Rose Amelia Harkness it is, then."


End file.
